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The Kitchen That Ate the House

The high-end home's newest great room features plush furniture, fireplaces, multiple flat screens—and a few carefully hidden appliances. Just look for the cook's dirty secret in the next room.

Some buyers feel that parties always end up in the kitchen, so why not cut to the chase, and design a kitchen large and attractive enough to become a party venue itself? Photo: Jeff Elson

By

Candace Jackson

Nov. 15, 2012 7:26 p.m. ET

Earlier this year, builder/architect Mohamed Hadid put the final touches on a 5,000-square-foot space in Beverly Hills, Calif., with whitewashed oak and limestone floors, hand-carved crystal chandeliers, two flat-screen televisions, a dining table that can seat 16 and a large couch overlooking a sleek gas fireplace. The space, which opens to manicured gardens outside, isn't a new estate home. It's a kitchen.

Long the de facto central gathering space of the home, the kitchen has ballooned in size in recent years to become...